Best value for private jet lease ?

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There is no good way to answer this without knowing how much you fly, and the type of flying you do.

If it's mainly domestic, less than 100 hours per year, and you go somewhere and stay for an extended time (more than 2 or 3 days), then NetJets might actually be the most cost-effective.

It also depends on how much effort you want to put in. If you want to do nothing more than write a check and make a phone call (or send an email) and have the airplane show up, ready to take you where you want to go, NetJets is pretty hard to beat-- but yes, you are paying for that convenience.

Your other realistic option is to find a good charter operator and form a relationship with them. I'm hesitant to suggest this, because I know you are in Florida much of the time, and Florida charter operators tend to be, well, not the best. Certainly not the safest.

A good national charter operator, such as Solairus, EJM (part of NetJets), or Jet Aviation, might be worth a conversation.

In regard to the Jet Card thing, that should be a fairly straightforward calculation, based on how much you fly. It's either cheaper or it's not. Watch out for the jet cards which aren't associated with a specific operator such as NetJets. They will put you on the bottom-feeder Florida charter operators. We want you to stay safe.

 

Don makes good starting questions. The most appropriate answer will depend on your usage and criteria.

Is what you have done for your usage historically what you want to do going forward?
How many hours a year?
International flights? (You may already be aware of in service area and not from Net Jets)
How much advance notice can you provide?
Are you prone to make last minute changes in your schedule and destinations?
Do you need the depreciation from owning a piece of an aircraft?
Passenger load and/or baggage requirements?
Does it matter to you that the fights are consistently on the same type of aircraft?

Have you seen what the actual residual value s going to be on the NetJets you are currently in? There may be a big financial hit on this. The fractional aircraft sell at a discount to market because of their high hours. Beyond this the general used market has taken some big declines.

In the fractional world you can also look at Flight Options and Flex Jet. But their business model is fundamentally the same as for NetJets.

If you can do it, buy the aircraft and let someone operate it for you that can get charter revenue. Lots of choices here (Delta has even done deals guaranteeing minimum hours). But, if you are prone to pulling the aircraft for your own usage from when it had a charter booked then expect that the charters will dry up.

Understand that none of the fractionals are going to be good financially unless you do a lot of one way flights. Their value is in being a one phone call proposition with no backend responsibility. You are paying for them to make money on the sale of the aircraft to you (figure they get at least a 20% discount on the aircraft but charge you list price), they make money on the monthly management fee (with you paying for all their overhead and operations not related to operating your aircraft) and then the per hour charges are not at their cost either. The crew costs for hotels and per diem are not your problem, an maintenance issues are not your, if the planned aircraft is unavailable they are responsible to put one on the ramp for you at the proscribed time and place.

As Don said, if your use can work with a local operator, look at making a block charter arrangement. If your needs vary widely enough from short range to major international then maybe more like a Jet Aviation would be in order. I mention Jet because of the large size and variety of types that they manage. Do remember that you can negotiate on your deal and do smart things to avoid a bunch of fluff charges.

If you are looking at 300 hours per year then it is time to consider just buying and operating the aircraft yourself.

Jeff

 

One Delta Private Jets benefit is you get Diamond Medallion status and can use the funds on mainline flights including international.

Earn Diamond Medallion Status With Delta Private Jets

 

I see a lot of XO Citation X jets. That might be your ticket.

If you live around LA, Laudadale, Teterboro, Dallas....It might be in your best interest to hook up with a local respected 135 operator.

 

Delta's Diamond Medallion is a big deal. Normally takes 140 domestic segments a year to qualify for that. So if you mix the two types of travel, you will pretty much always be in first class if you fly Delta. My best/worst year flying Delta was 177 segments, and I rarely hit the 140 mark any other year.

 

There are people who can analyze your previous year's flying and tell you what the most cost effective option would be.

 

Who are those people?

 

Honestly, now I don't remember who I was talking about. I vaguely think I had someone specific in mind at the time. I'm sure there are plenty of consultants who can do that, however.

 

I know Jet Linx has a consulting side beside their charters. They’ll tell you what makes the most sense. Not sure where your at, but I believe their up to locations at 17 airports.